Reach Up to the Stars
by Arklune
Summary: Hope rescues his childhood friend from the Sanctum and discovers something surprising about him in the process. AU-ish/OC. R&R Please? :3
1. The Streets of Palumpolum

Hey everyone.

Thanks for deciding to click on my little story and give it a chance. :) To tell you the truth, I'm crazy nervous about submitting this because it's been so long since I've written anything!

My idea for this story is to sort of make an alternate story out of the one that already exists, by adding in a new character of my own. You don't get to meet him in this chapter, but soon enough. Until then, I hope my writing is okay. I'm a few years rusty here so any constructive criticism is super appreciated. :)

**Note:** Although this story won't be -too- spoiler heavy, it does pick up at a point about 7-10 hours into the game. So if you're trying to completely hide yourself from any elements of the game's story, I won't be offended if you decide to hit the 'Back' button on your browser now.

**Note on formatting:** Like many other stories, thoughts are _italicized_. Sometimes an emphasized word may be italicized as well, but I'll do my best to avoid confusion. **Bolded goodness** may be used if something is extra important as well, but I'll try my best to not make everything _too _dramatic.

* * *

**Reach Up to the Stars**

**Chapter 1****  
**The Streets of Palumpolum

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII is not mine, it belongs to Square Enix.

_Why did I have to get stuck with him..?_

Hope Estheim absentmindedly ran a hand through the back of his hair as he trudged through a quiet, dark alleyway in the suburbs of Palumpolum on the way to his home. Ahead of him was the man assigned to protect him as they made their way through the city; Snow Villiers. Seven years Hope's senior, Snow towered over the boy – not to mention almost everyone else around. Hope kept a several-foot distance between him and Snow at all times, and hardly responded to Snow's endless smalltalk.

He wasn't ready to get friendly with the person who was responsible for his mother's death.

As the two approached the end of the alleyway Hope's fears of getting caught reignited. They were Pulse l'cie, mortal enemies of all citizens (not to mention armed soldiers) of Cocoon, and the brand on his wrist was a constant reminder to that. It was still strange to Hope that he was wanted dead by everyone in the town he called his home not a few days ago. But he didn't have much time to think about it; he was preoccupied by the fear for his life and the hatred towards his assigned guardian.

Hope was still annoyed with Lightning – another person made into a l'cie alongside him and Snow's future sister-in-law – for leaving him with the man he hated. Despite her comforting words before, she literally shoved him into Snow's arms and took off with another woman whom Hope did not recognize. Lightning had been the one he had confided his grief and frustration to in the underground tunnels not two hours earlier, and although she ultimately tried to explain to Hope that he had to abandon his idea of revenge against Snow, the boy was having a harder time controlling himself every time Snow opened his mouth.

Hope kept involuntarily touching the folded-up pocketknife in his back pocket as they walked. It had been given to him by Lightning to protect himself as they ran through the Gapra Whitewood, but he began to have some rather sinister thoughts involving the blade that made his heart race just to think about.

The two of them stopped at the end of the alleyway and Snow poked his head around the corner to check for Sanctum troops as Hope stood behind him and silently watched. He almost wished a hidden sniper or someone would open fire on the stupid bastard right then, but he also knew that if Snow got hurt now, he had little to no chance to make it to his own home in Felix Heights.

"Well, this street looks clear, kiddo. Ready to make a run for it to the next alley?" Snow asked with a smirk as he turned around to look at Hope.

Hope quickly nodded but said nothing, and the two of them made a dash across the suburban road and only slowed pace when they were fully out of sight by any possible street walkers.

"We're getting closer to Felix Heights, I think. It's been a few years since I've been in Palumpolum," Snow said aloud. Hope nodded silently, but standing behind Snow caused his response to be unheard. Snow shrugged it off and continued his attempts to get the boy to speak to him.

"Sooo... is your family pretty well off then, Hope?" Snow asked with a slight chuckle. Hope glared up at Snow with an angry look in his eyes.

_Not at all, thanks to you..._

"What do you mean?" Hope asked him quietly as he looked back to the ground.

"I mean are your parents rich or something? Felix Heights is some great real estate, isn't it?" Snow asked the boy. Hope waited several seconds before answering.

"...My dad.. works for Sanctum," he said in an even quieter voice. Snow stopped walking and turned around to look at Hope.

"Sanctum, eh? Sure he's going to be excited to have a bunch of l'cie in his house?" Snow asked, sounding more than a bit honest in his inquiry. Hope merely shrugged.

"He's never seemed too crazy about having me around when I was.. normal. Dunno if being a l'cie will change much.." Hope said, ending his statement with a sigh.

Snow took a few steps over to Hope and clasped him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, your dad will be happy to see you. Trust me."

_Yeah, right. Trust you. Ha ha ha..._

Hope only stared at the ground, clearly lost in thought. Snow took his hand off the boy's shoulder and looked at Hope with a confused look on his face for a few seconds before turning around on his heel and continuing to walk through the dark alleyway. Hope followed silently, staring at Snow's feet making large strides that Hope thought he could only match if he jumped each step.

* * *

After a few more minutes of awkward silence they reached the end of the alleyway and stopped at the border to the next street so Snow could do his usual reconnaissance. Snow poked his head around the corner and looked around for a few moments before returning to inform Hope the status.

"Looks clear again, we're getting lucky! A sign out there says we are approaching the Eastern Promenade. Might get a little sticky if too many troops are hanging out there," Snow said. "Luckily, I'm ready for 'em" he added with a smirk as he slammed his fist into his own palm, making a harsh snapping noise as his gloves made contact that made Hope blink a few times due to it's surprise.

"You ready to go kiddo?" Snow asked the boy as he turned around to scout the area again.

_Eastern Promenade....that means we're close to.._

"Snow?" Hope asked him as his shaky voice slightly cracked, "Do you think.. can we stop somewhere? One of my friends lives near the Eastern Promenade and.. I wanna check on him.. see if he's okay.."

Snow turned around and raised an eyebrow for a bit. This was the most Hope had spoken since they had started walking together and it was the first time he had remembered since they got there that this was in fact Hope's hometown.

Snow shook off the surprise of hearing the boy talk and grinned. He had a hard time not helping as many people as possible. He was the hero. Not to mention, the guilt he felt when he _couldn't _help someone? Unbelievable. He still got a cold shiver down his spine when he thought of all the needless casualties back in the Hanging Edge when the bridge broke apart.

"Sure! The more, the merrier, right? What's your friend's name?" Snow asked, trying to move past the painful memory.

"His name is Seann. He's been my friend for 10 years.." Hope said, his eyes widening as he suddenly began fearing the worst for his friend's safety. He had seen so much destruction of his home town already.

"Let's go get him then!" Snow said while giving Hope a thumbs up and a wink. Hope only did his best to fake a half smile.

He wasn't ready to smile at the man responsible for his mother's death.


	2. Closet

Thanks to those who reviewed Chapter 1. :)

* * *

**Chapter 2**  
Closet

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII is not mine, it belongs to Square Enix.

Seann Rescha had been hiding in his dark, small storage closet for what must have been hours by now. The entire morning had been a nightmarish blur to the thirteen-year-old, and he still prayed that it was all a figment of his imagination. But he wasn't going to leave his closet to go check. Somehow being surrounded by his hanging pairs of pants and sweaters made him feel slightly safer. Slightly.

He was awoken that morning by a loud knocking on his front door. It was unusual for his family to have visitors that early so, out of curiosity, Seann climbed out of his bed, walked to his bedroom door and slowly opened it while praying it wouldn't creak. The upstairs of the Rescha residence was quite small, containing only his bedroom and a small bathroom. The thin hallway was directly above the front door, supported by two beams and protected by a wooden railing facing the living room rather than a full wall. The living room had a tall ceiling and had a direct eye-and-ear shot to the upstairs hallway, so you could easily hear a conversation from below while standing upstairs. Just then he heard an unfamiliar voice speaking,

"Citizens, as you may be aware from the news broadcasts, some l'cie have managed to slip into the city. In order to ensure everyone's safety, PSICOM Lieutenant Colonel Yaag Rosch has ordered for this area to be evacuated. Please prepare your belongings and--"

"WHAT?! We aren't going anywhere because of some damn l'cie!" Irving Rescha yelled loudly, interrupting the man who Seann had now deduced to be a PSICOM soldier. "If the l'cie want me they can come and find me themselves. Get out of my house!"

"Sir, we are only following procedure given to us by the head of PSICOM, passed down to him directly from the Primarch himself. It is for your own good that you come with us," the soldier continued, ignoring Irving's previous statement.

"We aren't going anywhere, this is our home," Irving said coldly, and Seann thought he could even hear his father crossing his arms; a move he often used for intimidation in confrontations. Just picturing his father's demeanor in that stance gave Seann a slight chill.

"Sir, if you do not comply we will be forced to take action against resistance," the soldier said in a warning tone.

"GO TO HELL!" Irving screamed and Seann heard the indistinguishable sound of his father's fist slamming into the soldier's face. Seann's eyes widened and he clenched his fists as he silently cheered on his father in a brawl he couldn't see.

After the guns started firing, Seann ran back into his room and hid in the closet, cowering in the corner. Two shut doors and his jacket's sleeves covering his ears did little to silence the sound of his parents' screaming.

* * *

Another quiet alleyway to walk through. If Hope didn't know any better he would think that they were going in circles at this point. He had never realized how dull the backstreets of Palumpolum actually were. The main streets and suburbs were quite nice, most likely due to Palumpolum's constant heavy influx of tourists and foreign shoppers looking to expand their collections with the town's surplus of great deals before going back home.

_I guess it is called "the Capital of Commerce" for a reason..Only the streets a tourist would see are nice.._

As Hope and Snow reached the end of the alleyway, Hope began to wonder how much longer they would have to walk until they reached his friend Seann's house. Snow covertly poked his head around the corner to do his usual scouting, and turned around a few seconds later to give Hope the report.

"Looks like we're about to cross West Park Lane, we getting close to your friend's home?" Snow asked him. Hope's eyes widened and he nodded.

"Just a few more blocks and we'll be there," he said, trying his best to maintain an unwavering tone. In truth he was getting rather terrified at this point. The entire city knew that l'cie were running around. No doubt a purge was in the works at PSICOM, if not being carried out already. Hope didn't notice that Snow was getting ready to make his charge across the street and into the next alleyway. He quickly stepped forward and prepared to run, and the two of them dashed across the street. No screaming civilians or soldiers yelling commands signaled that they had made it unseen again.

His heart was racing faster than any amount of running across streets could ever make it. If Seann or his family were hurt by PSICOM it would be _his_ fault. The town was in a frenzy because the l'cie were there, and any signs of resistance was the quickest way to get killed by PSICOM. The mere thought of it made Hope sick to his stomach.

_No. They are fine. They have to be._

But despite his attempts at calming himself down, Hope couldn't help but fear the worse. What if Seann was killed and his parents weren't? Or vice versa? How would he ever explain himself? How would he ever make an apology that makes up for something like that?

Hope involuntarily shook his head.

_Nothing could ever make up for that. Sorry...won't cut it._

He found himself repeating what he had told Lightning earlier.

Before he knew it, they had reached the end of this rather short alleyway and Hope instantly recognized the sights of Oceanside Street, the street that the Reschas lived on. The two of them surveyed the area to see how many soldiers were around, only seeing a handful of them several hundred feet down the road from the Rescha house.

"Not too many soldiers, our luck continues!" Snow said with a grin, patting Hope on the shoulder. Hope shook his head lightly.

"Yeah, or maybe they already went through here.." he said quietly.

"Don't assume the worst, let's go check it out, okay?" he said in a comforting voice. A comfort that was completely lost in a mixture of hatred for the man who said it and fear for his friend's safety. The two of them stepped onto the street and ran as quickly and quietly as possible to the house, Hope leading the way.

Hope glanced at the mailbox as they ran past it, he could see the laminated picture of Seann's father Irving receiving an award for achievement in science. He had won awards and great honors for helping create the most efficient jetbike to date, allowing passengers to fly for several hours without needing to stop for refueling. It was the same model that the Sanctum ended up commissioning to have built for their soldiers, and the same type of jetbike Hope and Vanille had rode to the Pulse Vestige in.

As they got closer to the house, Hope noticed that the front door was standing partially open. Hope frowned and furrowed his brow; it was unlike them to leave their door open like that. A few seconds later they reached the front doorstep and stopped. Snow noticed the door being open as well and recognized it as unusual.

"Hmm. Door's open, that's odd huh? Ready to go in?" Snow asked. Hope nodded determinedly and placed his right hand on the door and pushed it he saw next made him nearly lose the ability to stand.

_Blood._

There was blood on the ground in the entrance way of the house. Hope's heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest. There were no bodies to be found but Hope already knew what had happened. Without saying a word, he took off into a full-blown sprint and headed for the stairs.

"Hope, wait!" Snow called after and began to pursue, but Hope was already up the stairs and running down the hallway to Seann's room. The door was closed but Hope remembered he had no lock, so he maintained his running speed and rammed it with his shoulder. The door slammed open without him breaking stride.

"SEANN?!" Hope called out loudly, searching frantically for any blood in the room. There was none which was a good sign, but Hope didn't feel reassured. Had Seann left his room and been shot as well downstairs? Was that blood..his?

"Seann, please tell me you're okay.." Hope said to himself frantically as he dropped to his knees and checked under the bed. Finding nothing but clothes, Hope stood up and held his head with his hands. "Oh God, what have I done..?"

Suddenly he heard the door to the closet slowly creaking open and he turned around to see a young boy with brown hair down to his neck in the back and nearly covering his red, teary eyes in the front staring back at him with a frightened look on his face.

"Hope...?" Seann asked quietly in a shaky voice, still on his knees in the closet. Hope felt a huge surge of relief as he saw his friend was still alive. He said nothing but dashed over to the closet and dropped to his knees and gave his friend a hug.

"I'm so glad you are okay, I was so worried. I-I thought.. I thought you were hurt because of.." Hope said after they broke their hug. He wanted to say 'me' at the end of his sentence but his throat seemed to close up and prevent him from finishing. Just then, Snow walked in and saw the two boys.

* * *

"Hey! You must be Seann! Glad to see you're alright, kid!" Snow said with a smile. He offered both his hands out to the two of them but they both stood up without his help and dusted themselves off. Hope instantly felt a burning annoyance toward Snow at that moment, like he was ruining his moment of relief. It was hard for Hope to be happy in the same room as Snow.

Seann slowly walked over to his bed and sat down on it, staring at his feet on the floor and saying nothing. Hope remained standing and Snow stood in the doorway leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, looking at Seann inquisitively. Nobody said anything for several moments until Seann broke the silence.

"My parents are dead..aren't they..?" he asked them quietly, even though he knew it was a rhetorical question. Hope frowned and Snow shifted his position around slightly.

"The bod—uhm, your parents I mean, aren't downstairs now. I'm sorry Seann. God, I'm sorry.." Hope said with a slight whimper in his voice. The guilt was fully sinking in; his best friend's parents were dead because he was a Pulse l'cie. Simple as that.

"Huh?" Seann said, looking up for the first time in minutes. He had a highly confused look on his face. "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault, Hope."

Hope clenched his fist as he responded – "Yes it is Seann. I'm a Pulse l'cie. PSICOM was here because Snow and I, as well as two others, are here. I'm...really sorry." Hope slowly sank to his knees as he spoke and hung his head forward, almost like he was begging for forgiveness. He was.

Seann stood up from his bed and looked at Hope and Snow.

"You guys are..l'cie? The l'cie...the soldiers talked about?" he asked, sounding suddenly alarmed.

Hope nodded and slowly pulled the bright yellow cloth he had wrapped around his left wrist down so he could fully reveal his l'cie brand. Snow followed suit and aimed his left forearm at the boy while clenching his fist, revealing his brand. Seann said nothing but just slightly gasped and walked quickly past Hope and to his bedroom window.

"Seann..?" Hope asked, standing up once again and looking at his friend who was resting his right hand on his window while lightly leaning against it and staring down.

"I thought they were here for me.." Seann said quietly. Hope looked confused and looked to Snow, who also had a confused look on his face as he stepped out from the doorway and walked into the room. Hope didn't understand what he was talking about.

"Wait, why would they be coming after _you_?" Hope asked.

Seann took his hand off of the window and faced the other two people in his room. He rolled up the right sleeve of his bright green hooded jacket and showed his inner forearm.

There was a brand on his arm that looked awfully similar to the ones Hope and Snow had.


	3. Out of Sight

Another thank you goes out to those who read and especially those who left a review for my story so far! I really appreciate it. Please continue letting me know how I'm doing. :) 333

Wrote this very late at night so forgive any weird spelling/grammar/logic problems. :)

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**  
Chapter 3**  
Out of Sight

Hope and Snow both stood frozen in their places, mouths gaping open in surprise at what Seann had just revealed – his Pulse l'cie brand. Seann rolled his sleeve back down, once again hiding his mark, but the silence and staring continued for several moments before Seann folded his arms and cleared his throat with a soft *a-hem!*

The other two tried to regain their composure. Hope literally shook his head from side to side as he tried to get himself together from that surprise. His silvery-blonde hair waved as if being hit by a strong wind as he shook his head.

"Seann, wha-..when...where..wh-.......HOW?!!?" was all Hope could manage to say to his friend. How could he be a l'cie as well? More curiously, how did nobody else know about it?

_How did you manage to get caught up in this too...?_

Seann retracted his hands into his bright-green sweatshirt which was apparently a size or two too large for him. It was a nervous tick he had always been partial to doing and Hope had noticed it before. Seann raised his left sleeve-hand to his neck and rubbed it softly as he began to spoke.

"I..don't know! I mean, I do know but I don't know how it happened.." he said while staring at the socks on his feet. "A few days ago my dad and I got into a fight and so I..stole his jetbike. I wanted to come see you and..I-I knew you and your mom had gone to Bodhum to see the fireworks festival...and so I headed that direction."

Seann leaned against his wall and slid down his back, slowly sinking into a sitting position.

"I was distracted by the explosions when I got close and.. I sort of, well, flew into the vestige.. I mean more like I crashed into..it.. so I got knocked out for a little while on this platform thing and suddenly these like..tentacle things, attacked me and wrapped around me, and well.. I-I don't.. I don't remember what happened then..."

Hope raised his eyebrows as he heard the story. "How did you get back home?! Why didn't you come find me in Bodhum?" he asked.

Seann sighed somewhat loudly and shrugged as he spoke.

"I don't... I-I just wanted to come home and hide. I know what happens.. I know what happens to l'cie who are caught by the Sanctum." he said.

Seann had his arms folded on his knees and he buried his face in them. His voice had gotten shakier by each word as he spoke and he was surprised at himself that he had gotten through it without completely breaking down. Hope turned around to look at Snow who looked just as surprised by the story as Hope did, not to mention a little fascinated. They made eye contact and gave each other a look of sadness, neither of them knew what to say. After a minute Snow cleared his throat quietly before speaking.

"You had a dream, didn't you?" he asked Seann, who raised his head and looked at the man with complete shock and confusion on his face.

"Yeah.. how'd you know that?" he asked quietly.

"It's your focus as a l'cie. You see it when you become one. We saw a vision as well when we became l'cie a couple days ago," Hope said, crossing his arms and frowning. "I wonder if we had the same vision. What did you see?"

Seann shook his head softly.

"I don't really know. It was all very quick moving and kinda blurry. I saw a lot of people who looked really..happy. Like, celebrating you know? A big party.. I don't really get it, but it made me kind of happy just to see it.. you know? After I woke up.." he said with a little shrug.

Hope and Snow looked at each other with concerned looks on their faces. Hope recalled the terrifying visions he saw during his transformation into a l'cie -- seeing some beast completely destroy Cocoon. It was horrible.

_That's definitely not what we saw.  
_

_

* * *

  
_

It had been at least five minutes since anybody had talked. Seann sat on the floor with his chin resting on his arms which lay across his knees, brought up close to his chest. His face was hard to read, it was almost expressionless. Hope had sat down on the bed and Snow had grabbed a rolling chair from the desk on the other side of the room. He sat in it backwards and rest his forearms on the back of the chair and stared to the floor. Snow then decided they had been quiet for too long.

"Hey, so you're a l'cie like us, huh? Got any cool, uh, tricks?" Snow asked Seann with a little smirk. Seann raised his head and looked at Snow, his expression still remaining very straight, when he suddenly raised his right hand, worked it out of the long sleeve he had it covered with and he snapped his fingers.

_*snap*_

A small black-colored spark appeared between his thumb and middle finger as he snapped them, and suddenly he completely faded out from sight. Hope and Snow gasped simultaneously and stood up from their respective seats.

"SEANN?!" Hope cried out, a little louder than he meant to. With another snap of his fingers, Seann then reappeared sitting in the same spot, looking up at both of them.

"You can..you can turn....in_VISIBLE_?!?!" Hope cried out, his eyes seemed as wide as small plates. Snow stood behind him clearly not believing what he just saw. Seann just nodded back at him.

"Yeah, that's..all I can do. I can't do any crazy magic spells like other l'cie are supposed to be able to," he said with a slight hint of jealousy that Snow picked up on.

"Hey," Snow said, smiling and walking towards the boy. He crouched down and placed a hand on Seann's shoulder. "You shouldn't wish that you could fight. Being able to stay hidden like that is incredible. You should consider your ability a gift. Leave the fighting to the grownups," he said with a smile.

Seann just shrugged. Snow's words meant little to him. If he could fight than maybe his parents wouldn't be dead right now. Or, at the very least, maybe some PSICOM soldiers would be as well.

Hope had his arms crossed again and looked at Snow, secretly wishing that his mother had been able to use an invisibility technique.

_Maybe if she had been invisible she would still be alive. Snow wouldn't have been able to get her to help him out.._

Hope shook his head, once again trying to clear his thoughts by physically shaking them out as he had done before upon first learning of Seann being a l'cie. Now wasn't the time to get angrier at Snow about his mother. His friend needed him.

"So...how does it work?" Hope asked, looking away from the crouching Snow and to Seann. Snow stood up and walked back to his chair and sat down in it backwards once again.

Seann looked at him with his eyes narrowed and a confused look.

"I mean, can you do it..forever?" Hope added, raising his eyebrows as he said the last word.

Seann shook his head no. "It seems to go away after a few minutes. I wish it didn't.." he sighed.

* * *

About two minutes later, another awkward silence in the upstairs bedroom was interrupted by the sound of a harsh knocking at the front door. All three of them stood up at the same time looking worried. Had PSICOM found out where they were? It couldn't have been Lightning and Fang, they had no clue who Seann was, not to mention where his house was and the fact that Hope and Snow were currently inside of it.

Another knocking on the front door echoed throughout the walls of Seann's room.

"Citizens! This is PSICOM patrol. An evacuation order has been issued. Please open your door or we will enter with force!"

Seann gasped as he recognized the speech of PSICOM troops.

"Why are they back?!" he said in frantic desperation.

Snow formed a fist with his right hand and punched his other, open palm. A little smile formed on his face as usual when he was prepared to fight.

"Let 'em come. We'll make them sorry they picked this house to check!" he said in the most heroic way possible.

Suddenly a loud bang and the sound of the Rescha residence's wooden front door splintering and flying open after a swift kick flooded the entire house. Seann jumped in fright at the loud noise as Snow and Hope dashed into the hallway. Three PSICOM soldiers were walking in to the living room, directly below where they stood. Snow turned to Hope and gave him a thumbs up before grabbing the rail and leaping over it.

Snow landed with a loud thud behind the soldiers. The three troops turned around in surprise and the rearmost one caught a powerful punch from Snow that sent him flying 10 feet through the air into the wall, causing a large crack to form on impact. The soldier fell to the ground unconscious. Another soldier tried to swing at Snow with the butt of his rifle, but Snow leapt backwards just in time to avoid the concussive blow.

The third soldier cocked his gun and aimed it at Snow, but Hope saw him first and threw his boomerang weapon at the soldier, disarming him of the submachine gun. Before the gun had even hit the floor, Hope cast a fire spell at the soldier and a large fireball about two feet in diameter flew at him, directly hitting him and causing the soldier to fall to the ground instantly.

Snow avoided another attempt at a melee swing by the last remaining soldier by jumping out of the way. The PSICOM troop let out a yell of rage and charged at Snow. But he was ready for it and dodged the soldier's attempt at another swing, countering it by punching him extremely hard in the ribcage. His amazing strength sent the soldier flying into the large flatscreen TV in the living room, completely shattering it upon the impact of the flying victim.

Snow let out a swift exhale and rubbed his right hand's knuckles. He looked up to the 2nd floor hallway at Hope, putting away his boomerang, and Seann who stood in his doorway.

"You boys okay?" Snow called up to them.

"Fine." Hope answered back, looking to his friend. Seann was slightly shaking and breathing quickly, the after effects of being frightened and the adrenaline rush of seeing the big brawl. Hope walked over and patted Seann on the arm.

"Come on, let's get going to my house. It will be safe there," Hope assured his friend, although he had his doubts about the truth in that last statement. How safe would they actually be? If the Sanctum found out where they were it was all over.

Hope and Seann walked down the hallway and down the stairs, meeting Snow at the bottom. Hope approached Snow and looked up to his face to meet his eyes.

"Seann is coming with us, okay?"

Hope's question was 100% rhetorical. Snow knew that any answer other than _'okay'_ would not suffice. It didn't matter though, as Snow had no intention of abandoning the boy.

"Of course! Let's get going to your house, kiddo," he said to Hope as he winked and grinned. Hope looked down and frowned to himself. He had momentarily forgot how angry he was at Snow for his mother dying. Seeing him smile like that triggered Hope's memory of how much he hated seeing him do it. Snow wasn't allowed to smile now that his mother was dead.

The three of them started walking towards the kicked-open front door when Snow pointed at the broken TV laying in pieces on the living room floor.

"Sorry about the TV. Hope you didn't want to watch anything before we left!" Snow said with a chuckle.

For the first time all day, Seann let out the faintest hint of a smile.


	4. Climbing

Thank you SO much to everyone who read my one-shot, "The Hope of Tomorrow"! The response was very positive and I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy it. :)

I'll have some notes at the bottom so make sure you read them as well. :)

* * *

**Chapter 4**  
Climbing

Seann's faint grin from Snow's joke only lasted for a few seconds. As they stepped outside, the bright sunlight was a harsh change on the boy's eyes and he had to squint and blink rapidly as they adjusted themselves to the sudden lighting. Once he could see clearly again, Seann glanced around the street and saw the horror of the situation; bodies laid strewn here and there, and it was eerily quiet compared to a usual afternoon in the busy city. The only sounds were the faint humming of distant Sanctum vehicle engines and the occasional outcry from scared civilians on other streets.

Snow shook his head as he surveyed the area. "This is terrible..." he muttered to himself as he reached his right hand up behind his head and nervously scratched his neck. Hope was silent but his eyes were wide as he looked towards the fountain across the street. There were about seven bodies on the ground around it. Hope blinked hard, twice. He prayed that it was nobody he knew.

"All this chaos... because we're l'Cie." Hope said with a very sad tone to his voice. He looked to the ground as he realized the gravity of the situation. Snow turned to Hope and patted him on the back.

"Hey, this isn't our fault. This is the Sanctum's doing. They will kill as many innocent people as it takes just to get what they want," he said softly.

Without saying anything else, the three of them started walking away from the house, once again heading towards Felix Heights. After a few steps Seann turned around and looked into the ajar doorway of his home, the walls and floor still stained with the blood of his parents. He felt his eyes watering up so he shut them as hard as he could and let out a deep sigh before turning around and walking extra quickly to catch up to the other two.

After a few minutes of walking the down the deserted street, they came to a fork in the road. A sign was planted in the middle of the split with directions. One way led to Agora Avenue, the busiest street in Palumpolum and the one with the most vendors. All three of them silently wondered how disastrous that area had become since the hunt for l'Cie started. The other direction in the path led to the Rivera Towers, a residential highrise that also served as a stairway to the upper portion of Palumpolum where the richer people lived, Hope's family included.

As they stopped to read the sign, Hope pointed to the arrow reading 'Rivera Towers'.

"That's the way, we can take the elevator in the tower and we'll be close to my house then." he said. The other two nodded and they continued walking. The persistent silence was starting to bother everyone now; nobody had spoken for at least five minutes. Seann decided he would try to break the silence with a question he had been wanting to ask.

"Hey, Hope. Is.. is your family okay?" he asked his friend silently. Hope's expression instantly dropped and he lowered his eyes to the ground as they walked.

"M-My Mom's...she's..." he said softly, seemingly unable to finish the sentence. His breath was shaking as he said it and he had to stop himself so he wouldn't get too upset. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of Snow. Seann understood and nodded his head slowly.

"Sorry." he said bluntly but genuinely.

Hope appreciated his friend's comfort for his sadness; or maybe it was an apology for bringing the subject up. Regardless, Hope was too focused on Snow's reaction to what he had said. More specifically, his _lack of reaction _to it. Snow hadn't even slightly broken stride upon hearing about Hope's mother. He didn't turn around and offer any comforting words. Hell, he didn't even offer a smile or a stupid joke.

Hope was internally furious just then, how could this man care so little about his pain? Especially when it was _his_ fault that she had died in the first place. Hope felt a cold shivering down his spine as he glared at the back of Snow; it wasn't a temperature-related reaction. It was pure anger. Hope was about to open his mouth and say something when he realized that they had made it to the front door of one of the Rivera Towers.

* * *

"Well, here we are!" Snow said in a cheerful voice. He peaked over his shoulder at the two boys and gave a smirk. Neither of them returned a grin. Snow pushed the button on the front door and...nothing happened.

"Hmm, odd," he said, scratching his chin softly. He pressed the open button again and just like before, nothing happened.

"Must be locked due to the evacuation," he deduced to himself, turning around to look at his two companions. "Any other way up?" he asked Hope, but before he could answer, Snow looked to his left and noticed there was a ladder attached to the building that led all the way to the top.

"_A-ha!"_ he shouted victoriously, apparently very pleased with his discovery. "Shall we?" he said with a chuckle.

The three of them walked over to the ladder and looked up. It was at least 300 feet to the top, and they would be wide open to any soldiers who happened to look in the direction of the tower. It was going to be very risky.

"Well, this goes all the way up, but we're gonna be exposed the whole way up. Pretty dangerous, but.. do we have a choice?" Snow offered, mostly talking to himself. Seann looked at Hope who had been staring at Snow with a look unquestionably full of contempt. Seann could tell that his friend had something to say to the older man, it looked like he was going to burst. Seann slowly looked away from Hope and up to Snow.

"Uhm.. I'll go first," he said, trying to sound confident.

Snow blinked at the boy, looking very surprised.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get hurt," he said, tilting his head slightly.

"Well they won't be able to see me, remember? I can at least go make sure nothing is waiting for us up there," Seann replied with an assertive nod at the end. Snow couldn't help but grin as he remembered Seann's power.

"Alright then! You go ahead and scout the roof for us. We'll wait down here and you give us a signal if it's clear for us to start climbing," Snow said, giving Seann a thumbs up. Seann half-heartedly returned an awkward thumbs up before snapping his fingers. The black spark flew out of his hand like before, and he faded out of sight.

Seann walked up to the ladder and let out a sigh as he looked up. He wasn't a fan of heights to begin with, and now he had to worry about running into soldiers at the top. True, he was invisible, but it required a constant focus on _staying_ invisible in his mind. If he broke his concentration too much, he would be revealed.

Before he began his climb, he looked back at Hope. He looked like he was softly mumbling to himself and he was rubbing his l'Cie brand almost methodically with his right hand. Seann wished he could talk to him and try to find out what was wrong, but they could do that later. For now, the most important thing was to get to a safe place.

Seann placed his left foot on the first rung of the ladder and gripped the fifth one up tightly as he began his climb. Snow heard the sound of shoes hitting the metal rungs and he gave a little encouragement, "You've got this! Just focus on getting to the top and don't look down!" he said.

Seann tried to keep his thoughts focused on keeping his cloak active and not falling off the ladder. With each step up the ladder, he got a little more nervous as he saw just how much distance was between himself and the ground. He looked up and realized he still had a ways to go. He was already getting a bit winded and it wasn't helping that his nerves were making him go slower than he would have liked. Seann sighed softly and grabbed the next rung.

* * *

At the bottom of the ladder, Snow was pacing around, lost in his thoughts. Hope had taken a seat against the building and was watching the man walk back and forth. Snow suddenly stopped and rubbed his hands together. He turned and looked at Hope.

"Hey, uh.. I'm sorry to hear about your mom. It's not fair she died," he said to the boy. He sounded genuine but Hope had his doubts.

"Yeah, it's not," he responded in a cold voice, looking toward the ground. Snow curiously tilted his head to the side a bit. His answer had been so blunt and dismissive. He looked at Hope and crossed his arms, not wanting to say anything else. Hope decided to continue speaking, however.

"Snow... Have you ever lost any family members?" he asked him, not looking up.

"Well.. I never really knew my family. I was an orphan. But, I guess you could say I've lost Serah. At least for now. She's going to be my family," he said and couldn't help but grin at the thought. Whenever he pictured his future with Serah he became happy. He envisioned them starting a family together.

"Okay. Well, what if you lost someone you loved and nothing could bring them back?" Hope continued, starting to sound annoyed.

Snow was getting confused at this point. What was with the sudden interrogation? Snow had to think before he answered.

"...Ahh, I guess I would have to get even!" he said with a shrug. He didn't know what to make of the way Hope was acting. He had always been quiet and absorbed in his thoughts, but he had never seen him act so.. hostile. Snow glanced at the boy and he had a look of anger and sadness in his eyes. Sure, his mom had died, it was a good reason to be upset, but why did it seem like he was upset with him?

"So if you knew who was responsible for your loved one's death, you would do something about it?" Hope asked Snow, looking up at him with a deadly glare. Snow was taken aback by Hope's inquisition. There was something oddly threatening about the way he said it.

"Hope, are you okay? Did you.. hit your head or something? Why are you acting so strange..?" Snow asked him in a quiet voice.

Suddenly, with no warning, Hope jumped up and ran at Snow with a clenched fist.

* * *

Breathing heavily and sweating, Seann finally pulled himself up the last rung of the ladder and stepped onto the roof. It looked like no soldiers had made it up there, and the ladder idea had proven to be a good choice, despite how much energy it had taken out of him. Seann sighed and smiled a bit as he sunk to his knees to catch his breath.

Before he could get too comfortable, the familiar sound of Sanctum jetpacks suddenly filled the air and he turned around quickly to see three PSICOM Aerial Snipers flying around the other tower directly toward him. He gasped and stood up, looking down at his hands to make sure he was still invisible. He was, but he was utterly exhausted and he was worried he was going to break concentration and reveal himself to the soldiers.

The PSICOM troops flew directly over him and Seann could overhear some of their radio chatter.

"--somewhere around here. This is the projected area where the l'Cie would head next. Keep yours eyes open."

Seann's eyes widened. How did they know where to look for them? Seann suddenly had a moment of panic as he remembered the other two were on the ground below, waiting for his signal. He had hoped they had seen the jetpack troopers already and were hiding. Not satisfied with his mere prayers, Seann walked over to the ledge and glanced down, he was surprised to see Hope running at Snow, before swiftly punching him in the stomach.

Snow was caught completely off guard by Hope's attack, and the wind was knocked out of him. He let out a groan as he fell to his knee, but he didn't have much time to react to Hope's next move either, a swift right hand to his face. Snow fell backwards on to his back and groaned loudly.

"Hope, what the HELL are you--" he was interrupted by the sound of Hope's pocketknife unfolding in the boy's hand as he walked over to the man and stood over him, staring down at him. Hope looked so passionately angry, it almost seemed like the illuminating skylight behind him was darkening.

"Her name was Nora Estheim. She was my mother before she died at YOUR HAND!" Hope shouted at him, clenching the handle of the pocketknife so powerfully his entire hand was shaking a little bit.

"Huh?" was all Snow could say, he didn't know what he was talking about. Suddenly his eyes went wide as he remembered.

The woman back in the Hanging Edge.

The one he couldn't save.

_That was..Hope's.._

_

* * *

_

Seann watched in horror from hundreds of feet in the air as his best friend was about to murder the man who was supposed to be protecting them. He watched him deliver that punch and was now standing over the man with what looked like a knife in his hand.

Suddenly Seann heard the radio chatter again and his heart skipped a beat, the PSICOM soldiers had noticed the fight below as well.

"Look, down there! The l'Cie!" one of them shouted.

"Engage them!"

Their jetpacks started to light up as they began to make their descent. Seann panicked. Hope and Snow had no idea they were about to be ambushed by the troops, and they surely wouldn't be able to properly defend themselves in the position they were in. Seann did all he could think of and leaned over the railing on the edge of the roof and screamed as loud as he could.

"**WATCH OUT!!!**"

As he shouted, his concentration fully broke and his invisibility wore off, fully revealing himself. Hope and Snow had heard him, but unfortunately, so had the PSICOM soldiers. They stopped their descent and looked at Seann who cowered, frozen in fear where he stood with his hands on the railing.

"Another l'Cie! Blast it!!!"

One of the aerial snipers aimed his weapon at the boy and fired off his MLSR missiles. They flew past him and hit the wall a few feet behind, exploding violently and instantly knocking him unconscious as he was propelled forward, over the railing. Hope felt like he was watching it happen in slow motion. His friend was free-falling off of the highrise building and he couldn't seem to move his feet from where he stood.

* * *

::A/N::

Hey again! :) Thanks for reading my update! To be honest, I have doubts about this. But I hope that _you_ enjoyed it at least. If you have any advice for me please share it. There's so many amazing stories on here done by very talented people, it is always humbling for me when people look at my work.

Anyway, hope you did enjoy this chapter, and the story overall so far. Leave a review and let me know what you think. :)

P.S. Written between 1:30-4:30 AM, sorry for any mistakes. :)


	5. Epiphany

Once again I must thank my awesome reviewers for taking the time to read and let me know what they think. :)

* * *

**Chapter 5**  
Epiphany

Time seemed to slow down to a sluggish crawl for Hope as he watched Seann falling from the top of the Rivera tower. The boy's unconscious body was mere seconds away from colliding with the hard ground and Hope's feet seemed to be cemented to the ground.

Why couldn't he move? All he wanted was to be able to break his fall and possibly spare his life, even if it meant Hope getting hurt himself. There had been too many needless deaths already, Seann didn't deserve to die.

Suddenly Hope realized that Snow was on his feet, running past him towards Seann's quickly descending figure. Snow made it just in time and reached his arms out to catch him. He succeeded in his attempt and Seann landed in Snow's arms. Snow let out a loud grunt and his left leg gave way as he sunk to his knee.

Seeing Snow catch his friend restored Hope's ability to walk as he sharply exhaled and sprinted over to where Snow was standing up, still carrying the unconscious Seann with one hand supporting his upper back and the other under his legs. Hope nearly tripped over his own feet as he quickly took off. As he got close, he couldn't notice any obvious injuries on his friend and he sighed with relief.

"Is he okay?" Hope asked. Snow looked at Hope and nodded.

"I think--" his answer was interrupted by the sound of a hail of gunfire from above. Both of them had completely forgotten about the three PSICOM troops, and they nearly jumped in surprise at the loud sound of bullets narrowly missing them. Snow quickly readjusted his grip on the unconscious boy in his arms and looked to Hope again.

"Time to run!" he shouted simply, and both of them ran as fast as they could towards a nearby ground-level home with a broken down front door. As they got closer, the sound of machinegun fire filled their ears as the bullet sprays continued to narrowly miss them. Soon they reached the abandoned house and ran through the gaping front door. It was eerily dark inside, the electricity was cut and the only light was the sunlight poking through the shut blinds.

Hope's nose twitched as they entered the building. It was really dusty inside and they both could tell that this building had been abandoned since long before the city evacuation. Snow quickly ran into the kitchen and placed Seann down on the floor as gently and quickly as he could. He leaned him against the cabinets and Seann's head fell to the side slightly and rested there. Hope could see his shoulders lightly rising and falling as he breathed, so he knew he was ok. The concussive explosion directly behind Seann had knocked him out but he seemed to be uninjured besides that. He was lucky.

Snow looked at Hope after placing the boy down.

"Not done yet! Follow me," he said, motioning with his hand for Hope to follow him as he made his way back into the living room at the entrance of the house. Snow quietly ran over to the doorway and crouched directly to the right of it as he waited. Hope stood behind the couch with his boomerang in hand.

They heard the sounds of Sanctum jetpacks outside shutting off as the aerial snipers had landed followed by the sound of three guns being reloaded and armed. Clunky, metallic footsteps seemed to echo through the living room as Hope and Snow waited for them to enter the building. The troops stood outside the house and one of them spoke.

"I'll go in first. Bravo, you cover my ass. Delta, you stand watch from outside and make sure they don't try to escape from the upstairs windows above," the soldier ordered his two companions.

"Yes sir!" they both responded in unison. The footsteps started up again and Hope knelt down, keeping eyesight with the door but trying to hide himself as much as possible. He didn't want to get in the way of one of their guns firing.

No sooner than the PSICOM soldier had stepped five feet inside the house, he was greeted by a powerful right hand uppercut from the waiting Snow, who delivered the blow with a mighty yell. The soldier was hit so hard he flew back into the wall and fell to the ground, not moving. The second soldier gasped and turned to aim at Snow, but was caught off guard by a flying boomerang hitting him sharply in the front of his helmet, making him stagger back.

Snow took advantage of the soldier's distracted state and grabbed his metallic armor's collar, while reaching to his belt and pulling out one of his hand grenades. He quickly jammed it between the soldier's back and his jetpack, before pulling the pin from the grenade. The soldier looked at Snow who was wearing the grenade pin like a ring on his index finger and spinning it in a circle while smirking. Snow then delivered a strong backhand punch to the soldier's chest while yelling "SEE YA!" loudly.

The soldier went flying back and crashed into his companion who stood outside keeping watch. Both of them fell to the ground, and before they could react and pick themselves up, the grenade exploded. Snow put an arm up to cover his eyes, before turning around to face Hope who was breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush of fighting, and putting his boomerang away in his back pocket.

Snow nodded at Hope and walked past him into the kitchen. Seann was still in the same position on the ground, still not awake. He looked almost peaceful the way he sat there. Snow took a deep breath and knelt down in front of him, grabbing him by the torso and slinging him over his right shoulder. Snow walked out into the living room with Seann over his shoulder and looked at Hope who was absentmindedly rubbing his hands together.

"Snow, I--" he began to say while looking up to the man's eyes, but Snow held up his left hand to stop him.

"Not yet, kiddo. We've got to move, they are going to figure out those troops are missing soon and will come looking for us," he said, while starting to head for the door. Before he got there, he stopped in his tracks. Seann's limp arms swung back from the sudden stop and lightly hit Snow on the back. Snow glanced over his shoulder and looked at Hope who had begun following him.

"Hope... I'm sorry about your mom. I promise we'll talk about it when we get to your house. We just need to survive until then, alright?" Snow said in a soft tone. Hope looked lost in thought for a few seconds before slowly nodding and saying OK.

* * *

Snow never imagined how difficult climbing a ladder while carrying a thirteen year-old boy over his shoulder could be. Even though Seann couldn't have weighed more than 120 lbs, the awkward positioning Snow had to do in order to keep his shoulders flat so the boy wouldn't slip caused the climb to be exponentially more difficult than climbing it alone would have been. He didn't mind though. Nobody said being the hero was easy.

Hope followed Snow up the ladder from a few rungs below, and was breathing heavily as they neared the top of the climb. He was never the most athletic person and this strenuous climb was rivaling the physical exertion it took for him to keep up with Lightning in the Vile Peaks the day before. In fact, his legs were still sore from all the running he had done, and it sure wasn't making climbing this ladder any easier.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they reached the top of the building. Snow pulled himself over the last rung and as soon as he stepped onto the ground, he lost his footing and fell forward onto his stomach, sending Seann tumbling forward a bit. Hope made it to the top a few seconds later and fell to his knees breathing rapidly and heavily as soon as he stepped off the ladder.

After resting and catching their breath for a few minutes, Snow slowly stood up and walked over to Seann, bending over and picking him up again. This time Snow opted for the "piggy-back" method, hooking his arms around Seann's legs to support him as his arms drooped around Snow's neck and his head rested against the back of Snow's right shoulder.

Hope walked up next to Snow and pointed to the large neighborhood about a mile away from them.

"That's Felix Heights over there, my house is just a bit past the archway there.." he said. His voice seemed somewhere between completely exhausted and relieved to be close to home.

They began to make their way toward their destination, walking on the rooftop of the Rivera tower. As they reached the end of it, a slight step up put them on Horizon Boulevard; another large residential district of Palumpolum and one of the higher-class areas. The people who lived in the upper parts of town were often rich and weren't afraid to show it. The houses were all very large and often had expensive cars and other possessions sitting in front of their houses in order to show off their wealth.

Of course, it was hard to tell now. The usually lively neighborhood was eerily silent and it seemed like there wasn't another soul around for miles. Only dead bodies. Some soldiers, mostly civilians. Hope felt a lump in his throat as he saw the destruction around him.

"So many needless deaths...Could we have stopped this?" he muttered. It was more of a random statement than a question, but Snow decided to answer it anyway.

"The Sanctum has no concern for collateral damage. As long as they get their target, it doesn't matter how many innocent people suffer in the process," he said grimly while he looked to the ground, re-adjusting his grip on Seann. Snow sighed heavily as they continued walking, and he glanced over at Hope who was looking around with a sad, terrified look in his eyes. Snow decided it was time to say what needed to be said.

"Hope, listen. I'm really, really sorry about your mother. I don't blame you for being mad at me, it was my fault. I shouldn't have let her fight. It was a stupid decision and because of it, you've lost the most important person in the world. I'm...so sorry," he said, his voice slightly cracking as he finished the sentence.

Hope didn't know what to say. Not twenty minutes before, he was ready to kill this man for what he did to his mother. For what he did to _him_. He had never felt such an intense surge of rage as he punched Snow twice and stood over him with Lightning's pocketknife. The adrenaline rush caused his whole body to shake violently for several minutes, even after Snow jumped up and caught Seann.

"I didn't mean to put off apologizing to you. I just didn't know who you were. When I first saw you and Nora, you had your purge clothing on and that hood was hiding your face. If I knew..." he took a deep breath and continued, "If I knew that was you, I never would have let it drag on for so long... I don't blame you for wanting to kill me," he said.

Hope still couldn't seem to say anything as he processed all of what he was hearing. Snow was willing to forgive him just like that? Why? He was a few seconds away from driving that knife into him, only saved by Seann's warning of PSICOM troops from hundreds of feet above. Hope shook his head rapidly trying to clear his mind of the thought, but he couldn't get over it.

"Snow.. why... why are you helping me?" he asked him in a quiet voice. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that someone would want to help someone who almost killed them.

"Because Lightning asked me to." he said simply, before pausing for a few seconds, "...and so did your mother."

Hope couldn't help but gasp and let out a 'huh?' upon hearing this. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face Snow.

"Right before she died... she asked me to make sure you got home safely," Snow said to the boy.

Hope's eyes widened severely as he felt his heart racing and his breathing rate rapidly increasing. Snow was helping him because... his mother asked him to? Hope had a hard time imagining it, but after thinking about it for a minute, he couldn't help but start to feel terribly guilty for the way he had acted toward Snow since they had been paired up. Snow wasn't some heartless killer. Hope felt his eyes starting to water and a powerful surge of emotion started to overcome him, but Snow placed his left hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey," he said, looking down at him with a smile, "You're almost home, let's talk about it later. Your dad is waiting for you."

Hope nodded and forced back the tears. They began their walk again, soon reaching the small stone stairs that led up to a large archway made out of wood, with vines and pink & white flowers hanging from it. A somewhat sun-faded sign on the archway read 'FELIX HEIGHTS'.

They stepped up the stairs and turned around the corner, and both of them gasped as they saw Lightning and Fang sitting on a wooden bench about twenty feet of them, looking incredibly bored.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Fang said snarkily, standing up and putting her right hand on her waist, slightly smirking.

* * *

_  
::A/N::_

Whew! I stayed up extra late to write this one. Because of that, I'm sure there are some problems my tired eyes aren't catching right now, so let me know if you see anything I messed up on. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think!


	6. Awake

Thanks to the few who continue to leave reviews.. :) I wish I could get some more feedback but beggars can't be choosers I suppose. If you have any thoughts on my story, or any advice, please feel free to let me know. :)

* * *

**Chapter 6**  
Awake

Upon seeing Hope and Snow walking around the corner, seemingly unharmed, Lightning Farron couldn't help but jump up and quickly walk to Hope and give him a strong hug. She had been extremely worried about him since they had parted ways back in the plaza where they had first arrived in Palumpolum, and subsequently had their lives saved by Snow and Fang.

She didn't want to leave the boy with Snow but at the time she had no choice. She knew that Hope was very angry at Snow and blamed him for his mother's death. Despite Lightning's attempts to convince him that revenge wasn't the answer, she knew that if subjected to enough close-proximity time with Snow, Hope could snap.

"I'm glad you're OK," Lightning said to Hope as she hugged him. Hope looked taken aback by the gesture but he raised his right hand and placed it on her shoulder, half-returning the embrace.

"I..couldn't do it.." Hope said, his voice somewhat muffled by the close proximity of Lightning. She released him from the hug and stepped back, looking at him.

"I'll protect you from now on, I'm sorry for leaving you earlier," she said, looking a little sad. Hope's eyes widened.

"It's okay Light. I'll... try to protect you too," Hope answered, slightly blushing and smiling as he looked up at Lightning's face.

For the first time in days, Lightning smiled as she reached her hand up and lightly brushed Hope's bangs away from his eyes.

Fang interrupted the moment by pointing at Snow, or more specifically, the pair of arms covered by the sleeves of a green hooded sweatshirt dangling over his neck.

"Snow...what is that?" Fang asked, squinting her eyes and tilting her head slightly in curiosity. Lightning and Hope looked over to Snow and Lightning noticed what Fang was referring to.

"Snow..._who_ is that?" Lightning followed. Snow couldn't help but chuckle as he readjusted his grip on the still unconscious Seann.

"That's Seann, friend of Hope's. We picked him up on the way over, which is why we were late!" Snow answered with a slight grin.

Lightning raised an eyebrow.

"Why is he asleep?" she asked.

"He's, uhm...well, he sort of met the bad side of a rocket explosion from PSICOM troops. I think he's okay but he's been out for a good hour now or so," Snow responded.

Lightning nodded slightly.

"Fair enough. What about his parents?" she asked. Snow and Hope exchanged glances momentarily.

"They were killed.." Hope answered, looking down a bit and then over to Seann.

"PSICOM?" Lighting muttered while crossing her arms and looking at the unconscious boy. Hope didn't say anything but nodded slowly. Fang stepped forward and looked at Seann. His brown hair was partially covering his face and blowing lightly in the breeze as the right side of his face rested against Snow's back. His mouth was slightly open as he slept.

"Does this friend of yours know that he's going to be surrounded by l'Cie when he wakes up?" Fang asked.

Hope walked over to Seann and grabbed his right arm. He held it up and rolled the sleeve of his sweatshirt back before rotating his arm so his inner forearm showed, revealing his l'Cie brand. Lightning and Fang's eyes widened and they looked completely surprised to see the mark.

"He's a l'Cie too? How did that happen?" Fang asked, her voice a little less smooth than normal.

"The day before they found the Fal'cie in Bodhum, he accidentally flew into the vestige on a jetbike and it grabbed him," Snow said, shaking his head slightly.

Fang took a step forward and grabbed Seann's arm to inspect his brand.

"Hmm...looks a bit more progressed than the rest of yours'. See how there are more arrows on the outside? Makes sense, he became a l'Cie a few days before you all. Does he know what his focus is?" Fang asked Hope and Snow. They both shook their head simultaneously.

"He barely remembers it. Something about.. people celebrating and some kind of party," Hope said as he tried to remember how Seann described it back in his house. Fang looked very intrigued.

"So he didn't see Ragnarok destroying Cocoon like you three?" she asked , looking at the others. Hope and Snow shrugged and shook their heads.

They stood in silence for several seconds thinking about everything when suddenly Hope spoke up.

"Oh! Uhm, that's my house right over there," he said, pointing at a large home about 100 yards down the walkway, "We should get inside."

The four of them (plus the unconscious fifth) made their way to Hope's home. As they walked, they all glanced to their left and saw the sun was just starting to set. The Palumpolum sky was notorious for it's beautiful sunsets, and they all silently wished they would be able to enjoy it a little more. They made it to the Estheim residence and stopped a few feet from the front doorstep. Hope slowly walked forward and rang the doorbell. The others could see he was slightly shaking from nervousness as he waited for his father to answer the door.

* * *

Seann couldn't comprehend what was going on at the moment. One minute he had been standing in the hallway at school, then he was in the middle of an open field with daisies everywhere that came up to his knees, then he was on a jetbike soaring as the land below him zoomed by in a blur. He felt a huge grin forming as the wind blew in his face as he sped through the air.

Suddenly he was in his house, watching his parents answer the door. PSICOM soldiers stood at the front door and began firing their weapons. He saw his parents taking shots as their blood flew. He wanted to scream. He wanted to run forward and help them. But he was stuck watching from behind them. He felt like he was glued to the floor. Suddenly the PSICOM soldiers looked at him and aimed their weapons. The muzzle flashed on the leader's weapon and he watched the bullet slowly fly toward him. It reached his chest and he was finally able to make a sound as he screamed in pain.

Seann sat up rapidly with a loud gasp. He was in a bed that wasn't his, in a room he didn't recognize.

He quickly felt his chest to make sure it had just been a dream, and sighed with relief as he felt that he was fine. Suddenly he was hit with a blinding pain in his head that caused him to wince as he tried to rub his temples to relieve the pain.

As Seann reached up he realized he was no longer wearing his green sweatshirt. He looked down at his gray t-shirt and saw it was partially covered with a darker color tone. He realized he had been sweating during his nightmare. Slightly embarassed, Seann kicked the thick blankets off that had been covering him. He was still wearing his dark blue jeans but his shoes had been removed and he was in his socks.

Seann climbed out of the bed and looked around the dark room he was in as his eyes began to finally adjust. He realized it must have been Hope's house, in the guest bedroom. He had slept in here once when he was young and stayed with Hope's family while his parents had gone on vacation together. Seann felt a little relieved now that he knew where he was. He had been worried that after getting shot at by the PSICOM troops earlier, he had been captured and taken somewhere by the Sanctum.

_Ugh...that explosion..._

Seann remembered very clearly what had happened up until the moment he saw several small rockets propelling directly toward him. His headache was a constant reminder of what must have been a huge explosion. He had never been so scared in his life as he had been at that moment, when the aerial snipers had heard him screaming and looked directly at him. He was sure he was going to die, and the fact that he seemed to be alive now made little sense to him.

He walked to the window to the left of the bed and looked outside. It was night time now, he must have been out for hours. There wasn't a clock in the room but seeing that the sun began to set at 7:00 PM during that time of the year, it must have been well past that.

Seann walked back to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, looking down at his feet as he gripped the mattress with both hands. He began to wonder how he made it to Hope's house. He could only figure that Snow had carried him, but how did he make it up that ladder?

_Actually, forget that, how did he catch me if Hope had him pinned down with that knife? ...Why were they fighting anyway...?_

Seann couldn't make sense of anything at the moment. He decided it would be better to just get up and go get something to drink. He walked over to the door and opened it quietly. Stepping into the hallway, he could hear the faint sound of voices from the TV in the living room, it sounded like a newscast. The soft glow from the television illuminated the walls as Seann walked toward the source of it.

He poked his head around the corner and saw that Snow was reclined on the couch with his legs up on the coffee table, and he seemed to be fast asleep. On the other small couch across from the first was Hope and his father, Bartholomew. They were both leaned back and Hope had his head rested on his dad's arm. Seann could hear a light snoring so he figured everyone must have fallen asleep.

Seann suddenly heard the sound of glass clinking coming from the kitchen area. His heart skipped a beat in a momentary panic as he began to worry that there was an intruder in the house. Had PSICOM discovered their location and was now trying to sneak in to quietly kill them? Seann had to see for himself what was happening. With a snap of his fingers, Seann faded to invisibility and he started walking toward the kitchen, taking his steps as lightly as possible.

As he reached the open doorway into the kitchen he heard what sounded like the refrigerator door opening. Seann took a deep breath and looked to see who was inside. He saw two women he didn't recognize. One of them, the one carrying a glass that Seann suspected was the one that made the noise, was at least half a foot taller than him and had light pink hair that went past her shoulders. That wasn't the first thing he noticed, though. The first thing he noticed was the gunblade in it's holster around her lower back.

The other woman was standing on the other side of the kitchen, leaning against the countertop. She was even taller than the first woman but her hair was black. She had a large spear-type weapon that she had standing on the ground, pointing straight up into the air.

"I hate when it's so quiet, don't you?" Fang asked Lightning. Lightning stared at her for a second and than shrugged.

"Easier to hear when people are coming if it's quiet," she responded simply.

Fang let out a single laugh.

"Well, I think if PSICOM knew we were here they would have showed up by now, yeah?"

Lightning took a sip from the glass of water she carried. After drinking it she put it down on the counter and looked out the window behind the sink, not saying anything.

Seann was having a hard time hearing what they were saying because they were talking very quietly, so he decided to try to move closer. He walked slowly across the carpet and stepped onto the hardwood floor that covered the kitchen. As soon as he took a step forward Lightning instantly grabbed her gunblade, pulling it out of her holster and activating it's pistol mode as she pointed it directly at Seann.

"Light? What are you-" Fang began to ask as she looked around trying to see what Lightning was pointing at, but Lightning interrupted her query.

"Reveal yourself!" she said harshly. Seann gasped and let himself break concentration on maintaining his invisibility.

_How did she know where I was..?_

Seann's heart was racing as he stuck his hands in the air, silently begging for mercy, or a quick death.

* * *

_::A/N::_

Sorry, short one tonight. :) Hope you enjoyed it.


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